I have to say, it’s a really bad comparison. And that’s nothing against Spock. In fact, Zachary Quinto might’ve been the best thing in the new Star Trek. And the movie does, with minor flaws, rule. Nothing more satisfying than when Hollywood actually carries a good premise all the way through an entire movie, which these days seems a rarity.

About the Barack-Spock thing, we have a smart president again, and we’ve lost our minds because it’s something we aren’t used to. Perhaps it’s just me reacting personally to the stereotype that if somebody is smart, they are hyper-rational or too logical (as an emotional, smart teenager, I remember being pegged as highly logical–as Spock-like–just because I UNDERSTOOD logic, but like Barack, I was no Spock. Not that I’m like Barack either). Just because someone understands logic does not make them cold and stoic, any more than someone who is clueless in the face of coherent thought (Dubya) is a warm-hearted, emotive person. Smart people come in all shapes and sizes and types, and intelligence isn’t one thing. It is myriad things.

There. I’m done talking about Star Trek for a while. But the point is there are many different types of smart. Also, there’s just some super-silly analysis of the character of our 44th president going on, and not all of it emanates from Sean Hannity.

Ethan Nichtern

Ethan Nichtern is the author of the acclaimed book One City: A Declaration of Interdependence (Wisdom Publications, 2007) and is currently finishing a novel. His writing has been featured in numerous print and online publications. He is the founding director of the Interdependence Project and the host of the I.D. Projectâ€™s popular weekly podcast (available on iTunes). He is currently on the part-time faculty of Eugene Lang College at New School University in NYC, where he teaches Buddhism. Ethan lectures regularly at universities and venues around the country on Buddhism, meditation, contemporary culture, and activism.